A Violent End

A Violent End

This was a week that will go into the history books as the Libyan
dictator for the past 42 years, General Omar Gadhafi was killed. We started our week with a power point presentation by Ms. MacRoberts which highlighted the actions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. You
could see that these countries have a significant number of young people who are unemployed and the frustrations and lack of hope finally spilled into the streets. Tunisia was the first country to expel its leader, followed by Egypt and now Libya. Meanwhile, demonstrations continue in Syria and Yemen.

Our current events on Friday (and one class on Monday) focused on Africa and many of you selected an article on the brutal end to Gadhafi.

We also watched the MSNBC story on the ancient city of
Timbuktu. Western Africa was a rich region and home to wealthy and powerful kingdoms. Cities traded in slaves, gold and salt. Today, these cities have fallen into disrepair but there is a new interest in preserving the culture, especially the thousands of documents that were part of the Timbuktu library. While many African countries have fallen on hard times, we must never forget their rich history.

We also met William Kamkwamba, “the boy who harnessed the wind.” William tells his own story as the young son of a poor farmer. His family
was hard hit by a drought, and because of the lack of money he was forced to drop out of school. But he would not be defeated. By reading a book on electricity from his local library (which had just two shelves of books), he was able to put together a wind mill out of scrap pieces of PVC pipe and old bicycle parts. He soon was generating enough electricity for his home, the farm, and recharging people’s cell phones. William uses proceeds from an award he received to conduct workshops in his home village in Malawi to teach other young people the useful skills he has learned. His is an inspiring story. For more on William, you can find his book at the Middletown Public Library or go to his blog, http://williamkamkwamba.typepad.com/.

Economic Worksheet

Some classes have completed this worksheet while others have
it for homework. You had some class time so hopefully it should not take long to complete. This chapter will help you think through the history of economic problems experienced by many countries in Africa and what
steps countries are taking to improve their economic opportunities. Think infrastructure…no business wants to locate in a place without a strong infrastructure. We have linked the need for good infrastructure to our own state as efforts are underway to link rail service with the airport, improve Quonset Point port, upgrade our roads and bridges, and implement education reform that will result in a competitive labor
force. When all of these conditions are positive, companies will locate and invest in your state or country.

We also read brief excerpts from Bloomberg’s Business Week
and an article by Nicolas Kristof that spoke of the investments India and China are making in Africa. Many African countries are now growing at 6-8% a year and will reap big rewards for those countries and companies willing to take a risk. So while our text may speak of the numerous challenges confronting Africa, we must not lose sight of the potential of this continent.

Africa Group Project

Your country project is due on Wednesday October 26 and it must be emailed to me, using an MHS account, by 7am. Please put your class period and name of your project in the subject line. I will put
the projects in one folder so we can use our class time for presentations.

Take the time to read over the rubric one more time. Make sure you practice the presentation. Make sure to have your note cards (not loose
leaf paper) to help guide your comments. And be confident…you and your group are the resident experts on your country!
I look forward to a great day of presentations.

Federal Forms

Impact Aid forms were distributed and are due in the Main
Office by Wednesday October 27. Those forms can bring in additional federal aid to our District so it is very important to have them filled out and returned as soon as possible. We all want to do what we can to make our District efficient and this is one way you can help out.

Happy Birthday to two faithful readers: BABM and LEM